This is more of a road report for those thinking of taking any or all of the roads I was on. I did this in my truck, but thought the info could be applied to bikes as well. Actually planning on a scaled down trip on bikes in January or February 2010.
Huay Xai to Luang Nam Tha - the reports were the road was a really good one and it started this way however about 45 minutes out there were these sections cut out of the asphalt. What made these so bad was they came up without warning and the cuts were around 4" straight down meaning when you hit them it was like hitting a speed bump but these weren't rounded off. This bad section lasted for about 45 minutes. The rest of the way into Lunag Nam Tha was good. Total time around 2 1/2 hours
Luang Nam Tha to Muang Sing - Great road twisting upwards. A great road for motorcycles. No problems at all accept a little bumping as you enter the town. Total time 1 1/2 hours
Muang Sing / Luang Nam Tha to Udomxai - you have to backtrack through Luang Nam Tha to get to Udomxai. About 15 minutes out from Luang Nam Tha you hit a stop where you have to pay a toll of 5000 kip. Right after that you come to a police stop. I've been almost everywhere in Laos and this is only the second time I've had a stop like this. They checked all our papers and I didn't get insurance this time when I crossed. Honestly didn't see a place to buy it in Huay Xai. Not sure if this was a $$$ stop or they were legit Anyway I was a bit stern with them and my Thai girlfriend who can speak Lao promised them we would buy it in Vientiane
They let us go w/o any $$ paid. What was funny was we pay a toll for the road and after the road turns to shit. Very bad asphalt and dirt loaded with potholes; let's call it a second gear with very little 3rd gear mixed in. Total time 4 1/2 hours with a stop for gas in Luang Nam Tha.
Udom Xai to Pak Beng - we actually stopped only for lunch in Udomxai and than continued on to Pak Beng (not sure I would recommend staying overnight in Pak Beng during the hot season. they have power only from 6-10pm and when that fan turned off in our room it got hot to the point I slept very little) The road itself is great twisting downhill the whole way through a valley filled with rice and corn fields. Another great road for bikes. I think 2 1/2 hours.
Pak Beng to Sarinbuyli - you drive out of Pak Beng about 10km to the ferry to cross the Mekong 90,000 kip. The road for next hour or so was good compacted and almost ready for concrete. After you pass what I think was Hongsa the road gets bad and for the next 2 hours remains this way. This is a road where if it had been raining would be a lot worse and they were places that were blind uphill turns that if you missed you could be very quickly off the road and rolling down sheer cliffs; dead ! Road bad scenery very good. Total time 4 1/2 hours including a 20 min wait for the ferry and gas stop.
Sarinbuyli to Pak Lay to Vientiane - again bad road 2nd and sometimes 3rd gear lots of potholes. This road worse than the day before. Some logging trucks in this area and a few elephants (highlight). Stopped in Pak Lay for lunch (took 3 1/2 hours). Here is where I deviated from my original plan. If you look at the GT Riders map or even Lonely planet the road heads straight south out of Pak Lay all the way down to the Mekong. We instead about 5 minutes out from Pak Lay veered left and crossed by ferry and headed on a road south southeast. This road may be the one in the same as the two maps mentioned above, but when I compared the heading on my Nuvi GPS and the other maps this road ended up further east along the Mekong. Anyway this road was great. Twisting down for about 1 1/2 hours. After this the road gets bad again and becomes the new winner of the worst road I've traveled in Laos. The beginning was ok, but the kind of road you are cruising at say 90 kph and all of a sudden it turns really bad and you have to slam on your breaks to avoid a pothole or a ditch. After this is where it gets bad especially when you are following next to the Mekong. Actually I had to lock into 4 wheel drive 3 or 4 times. The last hour or so is a good dirt road. Had a blast flying along topping out at 100+ kph and had a great Rally race feel to it ! This part took me around 4 hours. So total time 7 1/2 to 8 hours
My overall opinion is all these roads are doable in a truck and dirt bike. If it were wet you would need a 4x4 in some places. If really wet you would definitely need a 4x4 and it would take more time. This trip for me was better for the drive than the places visited. Exception would be Luang Nam Tha and especially Muang Sing where we did a 3-day trek.
Here's a link to my website with pics of my trip: http://web.mac.com/frankmoniz2002/iWeb/ ... t%204.html
Hope this helps.
If there are others in the SE Asia area (I live in Thailand) looking at doing interesting trips in their truck and looking for others to join let me know. If we can get a few it would justify the permitting costs to places like Vietnam and China ???
Frank
Huay Xai to Luang Nam Tha - the reports were the road was a really good one and it started this way however about 45 minutes out there were these sections cut out of the asphalt. What made these so bad was they came up without warning and the cuts were around 4" straight down meaning when you hit them it was like hitting a speed bump but these weren't rounded off. This bad section lasted for about 45 minutes. The rest of the way into Lunag Nam Tha was good. Total time around 2 1/2 hours
Luang Nam Tha to Muang Sing - Great road twisting upwards. A great road for motorcycles. No problems at all accept a little bumping as you enter the town. Total time 1 1/2 hours
Muang Sing / Luang Nam Tha to Udomxai - you have to backtrack through Luang Nam Tha to get to Udomxai. About 15 minutes out from Luang Nam Tha you hit a stop where you have to pay a toll of 5000 kip. Right after that you come to a police stop. I've been almost everywhere in Laos and this is only the second time I've had a stop like this. They checked all our papers and I didn't get insurance this time when I crossed. Honestly didn't see a place to buy it in Huay Xai. Not sure if this was a $$$ stop or they were legit Anyway I was a bit stern with them and my Thai girlfriend who can speak Lao promised them we would buy it in Vientiane
Udom Xai to Pak Beng - we actually stopped only for lunch in Udomxai and than continued on to Pak Beng (not sure I would recommend staying overnight in Pak Beng during the hot season. they have power only from 6-10pm and when that fan turned off in our room it got hot to the point I slept very little) The road itself is great twisting downhill the whole way through a valley filled with rice and corn fields. Another great road for bikes. I think 2 1/2 hours.
Pak Beng to Sarinbuyli - you drive out of Pak Beng about 10km to the ferry to cross the Mekong 90,000 kip. The road for next hour or so was good compacted and almost ready for concrete. After you pass what I think was Hongsa the road gets bad and for the next 2 hours remains this way. This is a road where if it had been raining would be a lot worse and they were places that were blind uphill turns that if you missed you could be very quickly off the road and rolling down sheer cliffs; dead ! Road bad scenery very good. Total time 4 1/2 hours including a 20 min wait for the ferry and gas stop.
Sarinbuyli to Pak Lay to Vientiane - again bad road 2nd and sometimes 3rd gear lots of potholes. This road worse than the day before. Some logging trucks in this area and a few elephants (highlight). Stopped in Pak Lay for lunch (took 3 1/2 hours). Here is where I deviated from my original plan. If you look at the GT Riders map or even Lonely planet the road heads straight south out of Pak Lay all the way down to the Mekong. We instead about 5 minutes out from Pak Lay veered left and crossed by ferry and headed on a road south southeast. This road may be the one in the same as the two maps mentioned above, but when I compared the heading on my Nuvi GPS and the other maps this road ended up further east along the Mekong. Anyway this road was great. Twisting down for about 1 1/2 hours. After this the road gets bad again and becomes the new winner of the worst road I've traveled in Laos. The beginning was ok, but the kind of road you are cruising at say 90 kph and all of a sudden it turns really bad and you have to slam on your breaks to avoid a pothole or a ditch. After this is where it gets bad especially when you are following next to the Mekong. Actually I had to lock into 4 wheel drive 3 or 4 times. The last hour or so is a good dirt road. Had a blast flying along topping out at 100+ kph and had a great Rally race feel to it ! This part took me around 4 hours. So total time 7 1/2 to 8 hours
My overall opinion is all these roads are doable in a truck and dirt bike. If it were wet you would need a 4x4 in some places. If really wet you would definitely need a 4x4 and it would take more time. This trip for me was better for the drive than the places visited. Exception would be Luang Nam Tha and especially Muang Sing where we did a 3-day trek.
Here's a link to my website with pics of my trip: http://web.mac.com/frankmoniz2002/iWeb/ ... t%204.html
Hope this helps.
If there are others in the SE Asia area (I live in Thailand) looking at doing interesting trips in their truck and looking for others to join let me know. If we can get a few it would justify the permitting costs to places like Vietnam and China ???
Frank